Western Kentucky University
University Senate Meeting Minutes
Thursday, February 18, 2016 -- 3:45 p.m.
Faculty House
A. Call To Order
1. A regular meeting of the WKU University Senate was called to order by Chair Kate
Hudepohl on Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 3:48 PM in the Faculty House.
2. A quorum was present.

Members Present: Heidi Álvarez, Dora Babb, Jill Brown, Thad Crews,
Susann Davis, Martha Day, Laura DeLancey, Lisa Duffin, Marko Dumančić,
Lacretia Dye, Claus Ernst, Travis Esslinger, Ann Ferrell, Marilyn Gardner,
Barrett Greenwell, Frederick Grieve, Timothy Hawkins, Anne Heintzman,
Kate Hudepohl, Grace Hunt, Michelle Jackson, Muhammad Jahan, Dean
Jordan, Pam Jukes, Hanna Khouryieh, Stephen King, Eric Kondratieff, David
Lee, Fenghelen Liang, Ching-Yi Lin, Ling Lo, Jeremy Maddox, Kelly
Madole, Joshua Marble, Sean Marston, Lauren McClain, Andrew
Mienaltowski, Nolan Miles, Megan Miller, Patricia Minter, Kurt Neelly,
Anthony Paquin, Shura Pollatsek, Bryan Reaka, Jeffrey Rice, Tiffany
Robinson, Julie Shadoan, Beverly Siegrist, Melloney Simerly, Michael
Smith, Sandy Staebell, Heather Strode, Liz Sturgeon, Joon Sung, Dick
Taylor, Adam West, Aaron Wichman, Elizabeth Winkler, and Dawn Garrett
Wright.

Substitutes Present: Michael Carini for Keith Andrew, Morteza
Nurcheshmeh for Farhad Ashrafzadeh, Janet Applin for Sam Evans, April
Murphy for Gayle Mallinger, Lawrence Alice for Nancy Rice, Matt Pruitt for
Douglas Smith, and Andrew McMichael for Larry Snyder.

Guests Present who signed in: Karin Egloff and Michelle Hollis.

Members Absent: Cathy Abell, Jim Berger, Erika Brady, Kristi Branham,
Barbara Brindle, Barbara Burch, Neale Chumbler, Patricia Desrosiers, Robert
Dietle, Richard Dressler, Connie Foster, Dennis George, Said Ghezal, Don
Hoover, Tom Hunley, Jeffrey Katz, Molly Kerby, Soleiman Kiasatpour,
Thomas Kingery, Dominic Lanphier, James Line, Doug McElroy, Richard C.
Miller, Bella Mukonyora, Evelyn Oregon, Katherine Pennavaria, Gary
Ransdell, Jay Todd Richey, Jonghee Shim, Cheryl Stevens, Rebecca
Stobaugh, Kevin Thomas, Rico Tyler, Tamara Van Dyken, Tanya Vincent,
Blairanne Williams, Zhonghang Xia.
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B. Approve January Minutes
1. A motion for approval of the January 21, 2016 meeting minutes by Dick Taylor was
seconded by Marilyn Gardner.
2. There was no discussion.
3. The motion to approve the January 21, 2016 meeting minutes passed unanimously.
C. Reports:
1. Chair – Kate Hudepohl
a. Confucius Institute Workshop

Chair Hudepohl received an email from Paul Mooney related to travel issues
with the Confucius Institute.

There will be a workshop on information and data security organized by Paul
Mooney.

The initial workshop will be this spring, then every semester after.

When Chair Hudepohl asked how many expect they will be interested and
attending, about ten senators raised their hands.

Someone asked if this can be open to graduate students who are traveling; the
answer was yes, all students should be welcome.

Chair Hudepohl encouraged people to attend this workshop.
b. President Ransdell’s Response to the India Pilot Resolution (Information Item #1)

With regard to the recruitment of graduate students compromising admissions
standards, Chair Hudepohl said she felt the President’s response did not say
much. She mentioned that Kurt Neelly said that at the Senate Executive
Committee meeting he was happy with how things were resolving themselves,
and that Kurt Neelly, Dean Eric Reed, and Provost David Lee are working
together to resolve issues.

Kurt Neelly said that he Graduate Council and the Graduate School now have
increased communication with International Enrollment Management Office
and International Recruiting. Graduate faculty is now being involved in
communication.
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c. Open Records Resolution

The requests about the open records resolution (not putting salary information
behind a firewall) had not yet received a response from President Ransdell; it
will be included in the March Senate Executive Committee meeting agenda.

President Ransdell decided he will refer the matter to the State Attorney
General for a ruling.

A modification of the proposed procedure will likely have some extra steps;
for example: (1) providing a hard copy, a book, with copies provided to the
Senate, Student Government Assocation, and Staff Council; and it will be
placed in the WKU library. (2) Electronic access through a password to
students and faculty.

Governor Beshear has a website to search the salary of any public employee.
Chair Hudepohl will provide a link to this website.
d. Presidential Search Committee

President Ransdell announced his retirement.

The search committee has been chosen. The make up of this committee is:
1. Phillip Bale (Chair)
2. Barbara Burch (WKU Faculty Regent)
3. Cynthia Harris (Member of WKU Board of Regents)
4. Julie Henson (President of WKU Alumni Association)
5. James G. Meyer (Community Member)
6. Jay Todd Richey (President of WKU Student Government Association)
7. Tamela Smith (WKU Staff Regent)

A national search firm will be selected.

The search firm will recommend three to five finalists to the Board of
Regents.

The Board of Regents will make the final selection and approval.

Only one faculty member is formally on the committee.

Chair Hudepohl sad that with academics being the main point of the
university, that faculty feedback is important.

Regent Burch stated that she agrees that faculty feedback is important, and
feels that the college representatives of the Senate Executive Committee
should contact the Departmental Senators from each college and send
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feedback to Dr. Burch. Dr. Burch will convey this information to the
committee. It is important that faculty respond. This can be anonymous; send
the comments to Chair Hudepohl or Regent Burch.

Kelly Madole said that any time people just email comments, it is only a
select portion of the faculty and it becomes chaotic. She suggested that an adhoc committee be formed as an advisory board to channel faculty comments.

Patricia Minter said there are two ways for faculty input; the immediate job is
forming the job description. It should be an open process to describe views.
Time will come later when the candidates come to campus. There is a narrow
window for shaping our feedback, and we need to respond quickly.

Kate Hudepohl suggested working through the Senate Executive Committee
to funnel information and for following up with college representatives. She
said she was struck by the fact that there was only one faculty member on the
committee. Comments are already funneling to Dr. Burch.

Kelly Madole said she will close the loop; the committee will know what was
recommended and whether or not they were followed through with.

Patricia Minter said that with Dr. Burch as the liaison, the SEC can pull
together and function in that capacity to draft an open and transparent
document on quick notice.

Kelly Madole made a motion “for the Senate Executive Committee to liaise
with Dr. Burch to seek input that represents faculty interest in shaping the
presidential job description.”

The motion was seconded by Patricia Minter.

Andrew Mienaltowski suggested the wording “seek desired skills, personality
characteristics/qualities.” Kate Hudepohl responded that the committee will
write the job description. Mienaltowski withdrew the comment with the point
of not limiting the faculty’s input.

Kurt Neelly asked if we want to limit comments to the job description or to
the over all process? Patricia Minter said that we have nothing to say about
the process; the committee will do this, and it will be posted and transparent.

There was no further discussion.

The motion for the Senate Executive Committee to liaise with Dr. Burch to
seek input that represents faculty interest in shaping the presidential job
description passed unanimously. Chair Hudepohl will get a special meeting
together for the Senate Executive Committee.
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e. Gil Johnson Report (Committee Chair of Board of Regents Budget and Finance
Committee)

Gil Johnson responded to the resolution regarding employee compensation
that was put forth in May 2015.

Johnson rehashed information from the faculty, and met with the budget
council with conclusions and suggestions.

Chair Hudepohl stated that she found point number three troubling
(compensation over a five-year period depends significantly on increasing
state appropriations and a stable, growing enrollment). This was before
Bevin’s announcement. We have not seen an increase in state appropriations
in years. Regarding enrollment, enrollment is not climbing. Most of the
enrollment will go toward fixed cost. Point number three also said, “if
revenue streams don’t grow, any five-year plan regarding compensation must
consider other sources of revenue and available budgeted revenues for
potential reallocation. Develop a financial strategy if state appropriations are
not sufficient and enrollment declines. All revenue sources, including tuitionbased revenue, must be considered.” Chair Hudepohl positioned that this is a
vague statement. She is glad something is in writing, and at least that they
responded. If we don’t try, then nothing can happen.
f. Budget Issues

The other big thing besides the announcement of President Ransdell’s
retirement pertains to budget issues.

Bevin’s budget is only a proposed budget; but we have no reason to anticipate
anything other than continued cuts.

Information item #3 details Governor Bevin’s proposed budget from Ann
Mead. The Herald has good coverage of this. Provost Lee will add more
thoughts.

The proposed cuts include a 4.5% cut now and a 9% cut next year. The
correction fee to equalize will be slightly less. In addition to whatever
happens in the proposed budget, we are still absorbing part of last year’s cut
as well. Last year’s budget cut was largely self-inflicted.

What can WKU and the University Senate do? What will the cuts be? In the
interest of transparency, and the absence of information…

There is a student rally organized by Murray State next Thursday (February
25); it is a student march for higher education that is supported and endorsed
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by Murray State. Student bodies at various universities will take a campusspecific approach.

WKU Student Government Association representatives will go to Frankfort to
lobby on Tuesday, February 23.

Jay Todd Richey, the President of the WKU Student Government Association,
is in class today. He sent his report, which is posted on the agenda. Two
takes that will be the focus include (1) 100% replenishment of need-based
financial aid; and (2) Opposing cuts that Bevin proposes.

The Coalition of Senate and Faculty Leadership (COSFL) list serv posts what
other universities are doing. The Faculty Regent and Senate Chair are on this
list serv that supports student efforts. Molly Kerby, the WKU representative
for COSFL, indicated the possibility of a multi-campus solution in the form of
a resolution or a lobbying effort. SGA representatives have their own list
serv. Current ideas include emailing/phoning representatives and a MoveOn
petition. Please send any ideas you might have to Molly Kerby.

The University of Louisville President sent a letter to supporters of U of L
asking them to contact state legislators individually. This was not specific to
U of L.

Chair Hudepohl expects that Molly Kerby will know more by March.

At the WKU Campus, a number of department heads across colleges signed a
letter to the President and Provost to discuss the budget cuts now so that it is
not a last-minute decision.

Contacting state legislators personally via snail mail is considered more
effective than email. The link is on the WKU University Senate website. Do
not use WKU letterhead, WKU phones, or WKU computers for this
correspondence. Do not use university property or university technology to
do this.

Chair Hudepohl solicited suggestions from the floor about what the senate
should or should not do.

Grace Hunt said that the Religion and Philosophy website offers information
about how to contact state legislators, and it took full name, home address,
phone number, and a recorded verbal message. She wants to share this
information with students and faculty.

Eric Kondratieff said that he went through this at Temple University and there
were big protests. He encourages Facebook sharing, as well as encouraging
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students and their parents to contact the representatives. At Temple, this
resulted in a 19% cut instead of a 50% cut.

State offices rank certain types of correspondence. Snail mail (actual letters)
will have a better result. Writing and contact is important from individuals
and groups.

This will probably be a rolling thing; it depends on what the actual cuts are. It
does not make sends to do ‘Scenario A’, ‘Scenario B’, etc. until we know
what the cuts will be.
2. Vice Chair – Julie Shadoan

At-large senator elections are approaching. Vice Chair Shadoan and the
College Representatives will be sending an email.

Information from institutional research will give a full head count of
permanent faculty per college.

There is language in the Senate Charter about who should serve, how the
process should go, and how representatives are counted.

Voting opens at12:01 AM on Tuesday March 15 and will stay open for three
business days.

Results will be reported by March 31.

Nominations have to be in place to the college dean by February 29. An email
about nominations is coming out tomorrow.

Vice Chair Shadoan will do her best to know when people rotate off. There is
not very accurate information; hopefully, colleges can help to confirm
information from institutional research.
2. Secretary – Heidi Alvarez
 (No report.)
4. Coalition of Senate and Faculty Leadership for Higher Education – Molly Kerby

Molly Kerby sent a written report for COSFL.

UK did a similar effort to send information to current students, faculty,
alumni, etc. Both schools have done this (see report).
5. AAUP President - Margaret Crowder
 (No report.)
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6. Advisory:
a. Faculty Regent – Barbara Burch
 (No report.)
b. Provost – David Lee

In Fall 2018, we are opening a medical school here in Bowling Green at the
Medical Center. It is a satellite campus of the University of Kentucky. WKU
is collaborating with the process. There will be 25-40 students per year. ‘X’
number of seats will be reserved for candidates from WKU. Faculty members
will have some opportunity. At the Medical Center, they might build a third
floor. It will be a four-year medical school. WKU will be involved with
several aspects.

The Potter College Dean announcement will come tomorrow.

Spring enrollment is up by 35. This is close to where we were last spring;
90% of fall enrollment. The reserve for the year will be down.

In the first go-around with faculty recognition on campus, recognizing the full
range of faculty work, there were four faculty winners of the Faculty
Mentoring Award: Dr. Bland, Dr. Potter, Dr. Lenoir, and Dr. Maxwell.

Regarding the budget process, Provost Lee is in listening mode. Bruce
Scholte masterminded a letter; this is still in discussion. Provost Lee spoke
with the SEC. Claus Ernst will give a report in March. The chief academic
officers in other areas of the state had very little to say. The EKU Provost
retired last week. Provost Lee is still in listening mode; no decisions have
been made. Provost Lee says financial exigency will not be declared at WKU.

Provost Lee feels the Medical Center announcement is positive. This is
completely funded by students in the medical school. UK will reimburse KU
for any debts that are incurred. Provost Lee says WKU is not paying for it.
c. SGA President – Jay Todd Richey

The SGA report is attached, as Jay Todd Richey is in class; some of it is
outdated.

The second paragraph is the student resolution for WKU employee
compensation. There was some debate among the students. Chair Hudepohl
appreciates the support and communication between the SGA and the faculty.
SGA is doing impressive work.
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
In the posted SGA report, the date is February (not March).

Chair Hudepohl said she was surprised and impressed by the reasons for the
tuition freeze that were put forth in the resolution before SGA that passed
unanimously. It is information item #5.

In Jay Todd Richey’s update, Senate Bill 75 completely failed in committee.
The idea of a tuition freeze failed.

President King spoke to Catherine Harnell and said why the freeze was not a
good idea.
D. Committee Reports and Recommendations
1. Graduate Council: Kurt Neelly (Report posted; Endorsed by SEC)

Kurt Neelly made a motion for approval of the January 21 meeting Graduate
Council report.

There was no discussion.

The motion passed. The report was approved as posted.
2. Undergraduate Curriculum Committee: Liz Sturgeon (Report posted; Endorsed by
SEC)

Liz Sturgeon made a motion for approval of the January 28th Undergraduate
Curriculum Committee report.

There was no discussion.

The motion passed. The report was approved as posted.
2. Colonnade General Education Committee: Marko Dumančić
 (No Report)
3. Academic Quality: Jeremy Maddox
 (No Report)
4. Budget and Finance Committee: Claus Ernst
 (No Report)
6. Faculty Welfare and Professional Responsibility: Patti Minter (Report posted;
Endorsed by SEC)
a. Trends in Faculty Attitudes
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
Patricia Minter stated that the Faculty Welfare and Professional
Responsibilities Committee has one action item for approval. She also urged
faculty to look at the Faculty Worklife results.

Patricia Minter made a motion for approval of the Faculty Welfare and
Professional Responsibilities Committee report.

There was no discussion. The motion passed.

The Senate Executive Committee sent an item for consideration to the Faculty
Welfare committee regarding annual evaluation rubric reduction from 5 to 3
items. The committee found that there are 7 different evaluation forms, and
decided the difference is good. The committee offered the opportunity for
faculty to have a meaningful evaluation with more gradations, and
recommended that any changes to the document need to be done with faculty
input.

The report was approved as posted.
D. Old Business
 (No old business.)
E. New Business
 (No new business.)
F. Information items
1. President Ransdell response to India Pilot Project Resolution
a. India Pilot Project Resolution
2. Mr. Gil Johnson Report to Board of Regents
3. Governor Bevin Proposed Budget
4. SGA Resolution on Employee Compensation
5. SGA Resolution on Tuition Freeze
G. Motion to adjourn
 A motion to adjourn by Dick Taylor was seconded by Julie Shadoan.
 The meeting adjourned at 4:52 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Heidi Álvarez, Secretary
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